Orange Co Fire New Channels?

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radio

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In the last couple days, I have heard Spotsylvania Fire Stations 7 and 9 respond into Orange Co using a patch to Orange EOC. In one call, Orange told the unit the incident was on Lake of the Woods Ch 7. In the other call, Orange asked if the unit has Orange Ch 9. Any frequency information would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

N4VKF

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Orange

I would be interested also. I have not heard them recently on vhf. Here is the orange county channel lineup. They designate a channel for
each repeater site.

Ch. TX Frequency RX Frequency Entity/Use Call Sign
1 158.88000 155.05500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 1 Clark Repeater WNWD802
2 153.90500 155.89500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 2 Clark Repeater WNWD802
3 158.88000 155.05500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 1 Gibson Repeater WNWD802
4 153.90500 155.89500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 2 Gibson Repeater WNWD802
5 158.88000 155.05500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 1 LOW Repeater WNWD802
6 153.90500 155.89500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 2 LOW Repeater WNWD802
7 153.81500 155.62500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 3 Courthouse Repeater WQCX224
8 155.05500 155.05500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 1 T/A WNWD802
9 155.89500 155.89500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 2 T/A WNWD802
10 155.62500 155.62500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 3 T/A WQCX224
11 153.98000 155.80500 Louisa County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 1 KZI263
12 153.84500 155.95500 Louisa County Fire & Rescue - Ch. 2 KZI263
13 154.01000 154.43000 Madison Fire - Ch. 1 WPJP622
14 154.29500 154.29500 Statewide Fire
15 158.89500 158.89500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - (Old 10) WNWD802
16 155.98500 155.98500 Orange County Fire & Rescue - (Old 9) WNWD802
17 155.20500 155.20500 Statewide EMS

I found this....

http://www.motorola.com/web/Business/_Documents/static files/Orange County VA_HK-EN.pdf

http://orangecountyva.gov/OCBOS/MINUTES/12/121114 Regular Meeting.pdf

http://orangecountyva.gov/ocbos/AGENDA_FILES/12/11-14-12/7B Wireless Radio Replacement Project.pdf

Still trying to make sense of the technology upgrade.

FYI Orange is going to be doing cad to cad mutual aid connectivity with Louisa County

http://orangecountyva.gov/OCBOS/MINUTES/12/121023 Regular Meeting.pdf
 
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StephenVa

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Unless things have changed since I was in the fire service in Orange the channel is the channel number on the radio. It was implemented county wide to get everyone on the same page. LOW Channel #7 would be the LOW repeater on 155.055 (channel 1). The basic structure is 155.055 (channel 1), 155.895 (channel 2), and 154.310 (channel 3).

In the radios it's
Ch 1. Clark 1 - 155.055 Orange (23) and Mine Run (21) Stations area coverage
Ch 2. Clark 2 - 155.895 Orange (23) and Mine Run (21) Stations area coverage
Ch 3. Clark 3 - 154.310 Orange (23) and Mine Run (21) Stations area coverage
Ch 4. Gibson 1 - 155.055 Gordonsville (24) and Barboursville (25) Stations area coverage
Ch 5. Gibson 2 - 155.895 Gordonsville (24) and Barboursville (25) Stations area coverage
Ch 6. Gibson 3 - 154.310 Gordonsville (24) and Barboursville (25) Stations area coverage
Ch 7. LOW 1 - 155.055 Lake of the Woods (29) Station area coverage
Ch 8. LOW 2 - 155.895 Lake of the Woods (29) Station area coverage
Ch 9. LOW 3 - 154.310 Lake of the Woods (29) Station area coverage
Ch 10. 155.055 T/A fire ground non repeated limited range
Ch.11 155.895 T/A fire ground non repeated limited range
Ch.12 154.310 T/A fire ground non repeated limited range

I can't remember the last time I used or heard them use a T/A channel though. They may have been abandoned since most times dispatch couldn't hear traffic.
 

radio

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Thank you gentlemen for the responses with answers to my questions.

So now Orange and Louisa are going to a shared Motorola system. I presume it will be a trunking system. I don't see what frequency band they wil use. 800, 700 or their VHF frequencies.

Orange spent money not too long ago for TRBO radios. What are they going to do with them?
 

StephenVa

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The Sheriff, Orange and Gordonsville Town Police got the TRBO's. I haven't heard or read anything about fire/rescue in Orange switching to TRBO but I'll ask around. I'm hoping the new county fire chief is smart enough to not get duped by slick salesmen. He's a very smart guy but I'm keeping my fingers crossed none the less. Not sure how Orange and Louisa will link beyond the panels but I'll make sure to ask. Louisa is still conventional analog for everything. I think money will be a huge factor in all of it. Everything seems 2-3 years behind on the last budget I saw for Orange.

I really would have liked to see Orange, Louisa, Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Spotyslvania, and even Albemarle get together on a radio system for the area. Even more so now that Albemarle and Culpeper are running P25 systems and Spotsylvania is moving to a P25 system. I hate to say it but I don't think Orange, Madison, or Greene were well informed when they decided to use TRBO beyond it being a cheaper "solution" from a good salesman.
 
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N4VKF

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orange

Thank you gentlemen for the responses with answers to my questions.

So now Orange and Louisa are going to a shared Motorola system. I presume it will be a trunking system. I don't see what frequency band they wil use. 800, 700 or their VHF frequencies.

Orange spent money not too long ago for TRBO radios. What are they going to do with them?

No not shared or trunked radios. They will share realtime cad unit statuses for fire rescue response and mutual aid.

Since part of co 24s first due covers louisa county. Also part of Culpeper co 10 first due covers orange county. I would not be surprised if they develop that with Culpeper in the future. Northern va operates the same type if cad2cad system between arlington, fairfax, and Alexandria. It provides for seemless and automatic mutual aid.

In my opinion spotsylvania should get in on that technology also.
 

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Shared System

Abolutely it makes complete sense for them to joint into a shared system. But we all know, the government administrators and politicians forget using logic in their decisions in spending our money.

It is so sad to listen to the scanner when Spotsy responds to all the surrounding jurisdications includiing VSP and vice versa, how poorly it works, if at all.

Wonder why when VSP went to their system, that all the counties joined in and put all their services in it. Look at the State of Colorado TRS or Louisiana. Those systems are the model for all the states. I have been to both and listened to them. They are great, except those who choose to encrypt them but that is another discussion!
 

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Hey, thanks for posting these. I have been looking for a couple of those freq's you two have listed and never came across them.

How do we go about getting these added to the database? I mean it would be great to actually have all these listed under Orange County like they should be.Speaking of which, why is it they are not all listed?

I also know that there are freq's not listed for the new TRBO radios LOW security is using. Does not really matter as they have their coms encrypted for some unknown reason but would be nice to have those new freq's listed.

Encrypted.....Like they we Cops or something....lol

Dafe.
 

fredva

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Hey, thanks for posting these. I have been looking for a couple of those freq's you two have listed and never came across them.

How do we go about getting these added to the database? I mean it would be great to actually have all these listed under Orange County like they should be.Speaking of which, why is it they are not all listed?

I also know that there are freq's not listed for the new TRBO radios LOW security is using. Does not really matter as they have their coms encrypted for some unknown reason but would be nice to have those new freq's listed.

Encrypted.....Like they we Cops or something....lol

Dafe.

You could try using the Submit Info menu, or perhaps dtscho could assist. A cross-check of the frequencies in the FCC database to verify the licenses would probably be helpful, if somebody has time to do that.
 
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dtscho

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I'd be happy to add what we have here to the database, but there are two channel plans in this thread. Should I assume that StephenVa's is more current, since it includes the relatively new frequency of 154.3100? But then how do 155.6250 and the mutual aid frequencies fit in?

Dave
 

StephenVa

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I also know that there are freq's not listed for the new TRBO radios LOW security is using. Does not really matter as they have their coms encrypted for some unknown reason but would be nice to have those new freq's listed.

Encrypted.....Like they we Cops or something....lol

Dafe.

I'll see if I can find it next time I'm down that way.

I'd say the encrytion is for liability purposes. If you met some of the "security" you'd understand.
 

StephenVa

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I'd be happy to add what we have here to the database, but there are two channel plans in this thread. Should I assume that StephenVa's is more current, since it includes the relatively new frequency of 154.3100? But then how do 155.6250 and the mutual aid frequencies fit in?

Dave

The T/A channels may not be in use anymore after adding the channel 3 (154.310). I have never had 155.625 loaded into anything. Can't say I ever remember using or hearing anyone use "Channel 10" during my years. It was always channel 2 or channel 9 on the fire ground. I'll email the county fire chief and see if he can provide a current list of channels and freqs in the radios. That way we'll have something current.
 

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I'll see if I can find it next time I'm down that way.

I'd say the encrytion is for liability purposes. If you met some of the "security" you'd understand.

The New security channel is 152.3150 also known as LOW Channel 3 from the maintenance side.
Liability purposes from what? They get calls over the land line phone and dufus goes out from the hut to the call. Maybe just maybe they need to call the other guard at the hut to call for medics or Police assistance. They really do not need encryption for the little work they do. They do not even have interoperability to talk with Orange Sheriff's, which have the same BS system But, are not encrypted.

The Maintenance freq of 151.8050 has been quiet since they went and bought $20 grand worth of XPR radios a few months ago. I have been doing a search on this freq waiting for something to pop up, but have not heard anything yet. I do however see they changed their status on their license for MOTOTRBO so here's to hoping the maintenance department at least is listenable still.

Dafe.
 

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They may use privacy on 152.3150 because Communication Specialists handles their system. They seem to enable privacy on many of the systems they manage, even when the users do not have sensitive communications.

If they don't have interoperability with Orange Sheriff on their VHF TRBO channels, that seems like a major oversight.

Dave
 

Dafe1er

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They may use privacy on 152.3150 because Communication Specialists handles their system. They seem to enable privacy on many of the systems they manage, even when the users do not have sensitive communications.

If they don't have interoperability with Orange Sheriff on their VHF TRBO channels, that seems like a major oversight.

Dave

From what I understand they (LOWA) did not want to do it. Plus the Sheriff's have the possibility of dealing with a new security company this coming year and think they would rather have their coms just for them not everyone that comes and goes.

Personally I think they should have coms to the Fire/ EMS side more so than the Sheriff. There are plenty of times they have needed EMS assist and had to be delayed by calling to base then base calling it in to 911 all while the fire station is on site like 500 yards away.

As for the "Communications Specialist", I think they are a joke in all forms. I have priced them against other local companies and have seen they mark things up really high for the "higher end" consumer and somewhat mark up for the lower end consumer. They were slick in getting everyone in Orange and surrounding towns to buy these TRBO systems. What a waste since they can never talk to the state, Spotsy, and or FredVegas if needed.

Sorry I totally hijacked this thread. But good information came out of it if you ask me! ;)

Dafe.
 

StephenVa

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The New security channel is 152.3150 also known as LOW Channel 3 from the maintenance side.
Liability purposes from what? They get calls over the land line phone and dufus goes out from the hut to the call. Maybe just maybe they need to call the other guard at the hut to call for medics or Police assistance. They really do not need encryption for the little work they do. They do not even have interoperability to talk with Orange Sheriff's, which have the same BS system But, are not encrypted.

Dafe.

To protect the public from discovering the type of folks that are providing "security". What I said was meant as sarcastic or tongue in cheek.
 

StephenVa

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As for the "Communications Specialist", I think they are a joke in all forms. I have priced them against other local companies and have seen they mark things up really high for the "higher end" consumer and somewhat mark up for the lower end consumer. They were slick in getting everyone in Orange and surrounding towns to buy these TRBO systems. What a waste since they can never talk to the state, Spotsy, and or FredVegas if needed.

Dafe.

I totally agree. I think Orange, Madison, and Greene were duped and made a poor choice when they bought TRBO systems. I guess that can happen when you're trusting the "expert" who's doing the selling. It's funny because Motorola doesn't even list TRBO on their public safety page.

Also, I emailed Mr. Harkness today about the radio channels. I even asked to confirm that fire/rescue isn't moving to TRBO. I'll post a summary of his answer if/when he responds.
 

gcgrotz

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I'm guessing that these systems were not put out for bid but purchased on "state contract" as they were in years (decades?) past. Possibly, they got a much lower price that way and maybe encryption is a cheap option? Just a wild guess, maybe someone still around that business knows about state contracts.

In any event, it satisfies the narrowband mandate. The recent hamfest was crammed with older Moto radios recently retired.
 

StephenVa

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Never got a response to the email I sent to the county chief. I know for sure it's changed though. The other night I heard them go to channel 9 for an incident and the traffic was coming across on 154.310 on my scanner. I guess I'll reach out to some buddies and see if one of them can help.
 
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